1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to portfolios, briefcases and the like for carrying notes, writing paper, and appointment cards.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Students, salesmen, and peopel in many other walks of life find it convenient to carry a tablet of writing paper from place to place. In order to protect the tablet of writing pater, portfolios, briefcases and the like in which the tablet of writing paper is inserted, have been provided.
Other types of products have been provided to help salesmen, business executives, and others to keep track of personal appointments that may be made throughout the course of a day or week. Pre-printed booklets have been provided for displaying a page or a section of a page associated with each workday, for example. Various notes can be entered in the writing space allocated for each workday. Of course, the entry for each appointment would usually require at least the name of the person with whom an appointment has been made. Frequently, this information and other important information such as the company name, address, and telephone number of the person to be visited are copied from the business card which usually has the customary size of approximately two inches by three and a half inches. Typically, in addition to transcribing a portion of the information contained on the business card, the business card will also be retained by the person making the appointment. However, the person usually carries a number of such business cards and is presented with the problem of retrieving a particular business card upon demand.
Regarding portfolio devices in general, although it is usually desirable to have as many pockets in a portfolio as is possible, it is generally desirable that the portfolio have the approximate dimensions of a tablet of writing paper. Thus, the portfolio itself and especially any internal divider portions thereof are preferably made of relatively thin sheet-like materials. Typically, the more desirable portfolios are made from relatively expensive materials, notably leather. Although advances have been made in providing leather sheet stock of economical thickness, leather materials are relatively expensive and the goods produced from leather materials usually require an added labor expense of assembling individual small sheets of leather in a completed article. If the thickness of a portfolio is to be kept to a minimum, any seams must be eliminated wherever possible. Even if the overall thickness of the portfolio is not greatly increased, when a number of pockets are added thereto, the labor associated with forming such pockets adds significantly to the cost of the article produced.
It is frequently desirable to provide additional features in a portfolio used to organize a person's time. One feature popular today, for example, is the inclusion of an electronic calculator which is typically carried in a pocket formed in the interior of a checkbook or the like device. For leather checkbooks, a pocket is usually formed from an additional piece of leather and, in any event, the pocket requires additional stitching or the like for attachment to a surface of the checkbook, usually by stitching.
One tool that is becoming increasing popular today for organizing papers and the like and for making and attaching temporary notes on an article are tablets of note paper having a band of low-tack adhesive applied at an end of one surface thereof. One example of such notes is sold under the trademark Post-It of the 3M Corporation. Although it is well known to apply such notes directly to writing papers, books and the like, further uses of such temporary note materials for organizing a person's appointment schedule are in popular demand.